Hey guys, I'm sorry, I'm being really crap at the moment. I'm going for a scholarship, I'm really stressed out and I'v ehad two breakdowns already so I'm trying to relax. I can't even get excited about writing any more but please review, it really cheers me up xxxx
8
Katniss
"What?" I shout and Clove explains, "They always put them. Careers are supposed to use them towards the end of the Games, to draw the remaining tributes back to the Cornucopia. But they hide them, because they're dangerous and they don't want us using them at the beginning." I nod, calmer and sit down, exhausted. Suddenly Glimmer squeals and I look at her, where in her arms are hundreds of tiny lighters. "Wow." Rue has spoken for the first time in ages and I remember how young she is as I see her eyes shining. "Ok," Clara says, "Everyone, ready to listen?" When we're all seated, in a much smaller circle than before, which I not with a smile, she begins to tell us her plan.
"Ok, the forcefield needs a lot more power than the Capitol has to keep it stable. So there are holes in it. It should be quite easy to destroy. We just have to all attack at once. We'll go in four directions – I will go North with Marvel and Peeta, Clove will go South-West with Thresh and Ros and Katniss and Cato will go South-East. Meanwhile Glimmer and Rue will stay here. When you reach the forcefield in your direction, set off one firework to let us know you're there. When each group has set off one firework, we will know everyone is at the edge. Then set off as many as you can. If we all do it together, it should break. Glimmer and Rue, you need to watch carefully because you will have to set off most of the remaining fireworks upwards – everyone ok?" We all nod, but I am slightly uneasy. I may be spending over 4 days with Cato, alone. This could be awkward…
Cato
We're ready to set off. "Cato?" Katniss calls and I turn to her, as she shouts, "Got all the fireworks?" I nod curtly and return to Clove who is ranting about having to spend four days with 'that weakling from 4.' Katniss is going through the food and the clothes, picking out what she needs. Then she hugs everyone, even Clove and Thresh, before standing next to me expectantly. I do a mock salute to everyone and we start walking. All I can think about is Clove's words – 'try not to get too hung-up on her. This is important.'
We've been walking for over 10 hours and I can see she's tired. I stop abruptly and throw my stuff down on the floor, walking down to the nearby lake to fill up my canteen. When I return, she's missing and I start to panic. "Katniss! Kat! Where are you?" She jumps down from a tree, onto my back and she's holding an apple in each hand. "You bitch! I thought you were dead!" She hands one to me and sits down at the base of a tree, silent. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to snap at you." She nods but still says nothing, crunching her apple. "If you want, I can take first watch." Again she nods but remains quiet. "For fuck's sake, Katniss, talk to me. You can't block me out forever. What have I even done?" She looks up at me defiantly and sticks her chin up as she says, "You forget I'm not from 2. I don't know everything but that does not give you the right to talk to me like I'm 5. Clear?" I nod and bow my head, "I'm sorry honey. I didn't mean to." She turns away and within minutes, she's asleep.
She looks beautiful when she's sleeping – all the worry and anger leaves her face and you see what she looks like naturally. She sleeps for about an hour before she lets out an ear-shattering shriek. She's still unconscious but she's thrashing and I cradle her, trying to calm her down, but she won't stop, so I do the only thing I can think of. I slap her round the face. Hard. It works and when she wakes, she's sobbing. "Don't cry, Kat, its ok, it's over now, please stop crying." She cries, "But he was going to kill me…" I kiss her forehead and whisper, "He can't get you now. I'm here." Eventually she falls back asleep and wakes again two hours later, acting like she can't remember what happened. But when she tells me I can sleep now, she squeezes my hand and I know that it's her way of saying thank you.
Katniss
I think I had a nightmare. I remember President Snow coming, to punish me for volunteering, for causing a stir. He wanted me dead, and all of a sudden Cato was there to protect me. I don't know how much of it was real though. He's asleep now and this is another side to him, the peaceful side, the one that sometimes emerges when we're talking alone together. All his anger, all his aggression, it disappears when he's sleeping. I sit there for hours, just watching but when it reaches 6, I know I have to wake him. I hate myself for breaking it, because when he opens his eyes, they are harsh, prepared. The Cato I am growing to like is gone.
We eat a quick breakfast of dried fruit and begin moving again, following a straight path through the woods. At about midday, we see fireworks to our right and realise that Clove and her group have made it. We both make a subconscious decision that we will be next, and without even discussing it, we speed up, almost jogging on our journey. We take a break that lasts about 2 minutes, while we fill up our canteens with water, before carrying on. It is about 8pm now, we've been travelling for over 12 hours and I'm beginning to slow, as is he. I know Cato is strong, but even he can't walk miles without getting just the tiniest bit tired (;D -WonderGirl556). Just as I'm about to ask to stop, the forest comes to an end and we're at a rocky cliff edge. He sets off the fireworks and we collapse on the floor to wait for the others to our left to reach their destination. I lean over the edge but he grabs my ankles and pulls me back. "No, Kat. No stupidity, not after that. You're tired, you might fall. Just wait for their signal then we can do our job and go to sleep." I nod, smiling and settle down against a tree next to him, facing north. It's getting colder and soon I'm huddled into his chest. "What if this doesn't work?" I ask and I can tell he's been thinking the same because he answers too fast, "It will." I look up at him and something in my face must show my disbelief because he whispers, "Of course it will. Clara's clever." "Yeah, but say it doesn't…" I say, and he shrugs, joking, "Well then, I guess we're going to be here a while. So why don't you tell me about yourself?" I roll my eyes and rest my head on his chest. He strokes my hair and says, "Well if you won't tell me about you, I'm going to make you listen to my whole boring life story." I giggle and sit up, crying, "Ok, ok, I'll tell you." Just then a final set of sparks are set off and he jumps up. "Later," he orders and then hands me dozens of tiny boxes.
We set them on the ground and set them all off. Suddenly the sky is lit with thousands of bright flares. It's beautiful, I think, and he takes my hand, whispering, "I'm looking at something a lot more beautiful." It's like he read my mind and I turn to him. There's nothing funny about this and he's moving closer and closer. Do I want this? Yes, I think, I do. Definitely. He kisses me and it's magical. All of a sudden there's a sound, almost like a ripping and the forcefield vanishes. Cato chucks a rock at it, and goes flying, for miles, nothing to stop it now. "We did it," he sighs and turns back to me. All of a sudden, it hits me. If and when these Games get started again, this boy is going to kill me. How can I kiss someone like that? I step away from him and walk back to the tree where our stuff is. "Can we get going?" I say. I phrased it as a question but he knows we are going to need to move now.
I walk faster than before and he keeps pace with me easily, even walking backwards so he can see my face as he asks, "Kat? What's wrong? What did I do?" I snap at him, "Nothing Cato. It's what you're gonna do." He thinks for a few minutes focusing on the walking and suddenly it dawns on him. "You think I'm using you, trying to get to you, so you can't kill me and I'll strike when you trust me the most" and I nod. He bursts out laughing and takes my hands, stopping me in my tracks. "I would never do that baby. I promised you that I wouldn't." I look for a trace of deception in his eyes but find none. I nod again and he kisses me on the cheek. "Come on," he says, "You still have to tell me about your life."
Cato
I kissed her. I've never felt like that before. Fucking hell, she's hot. But when I went in to kiss her again, she moved away and made it clear she doesn't trust me. I tried to prove to her that she can but it might take a little longer than I had originally hoped. Right now she's telling me about her life, all about her family and her friends. She loves her sister more than anything, as she showed when she volunteered for her, but doesn't like her mother. She doesn't trust her to support her, because when her father died, her mom did nothing, instead went catatonic, leaving Kat to support her family. Her best friend is Gale, who she trusts with her life, because he always has her back, especially when hunting. The other person she talks about is Peeta. She told us when we got reaped that she owed him and she finally explains that. "When I was eleven, my dad had just died and the food was running out, no matter how much I tried to stretch it out. That day, I had been out, attempting to sell some of Prim's baby clothes, but no one wanted them. I was sitting under a tree by his bakery, wanting and waiting for Dad to come take me. I was so starving hungry I just didn't care. All of a sudden, Peeta came out with his mother, who was screaming at him. He had burnt some loaves and was chucking them to the pigs, but when his mom went back indoors, he threw them to me. He got a beating for that. But he saved my life. The next day I found the strength to go hunting for the first time and make my first trade. I owed him so bad for that." I stay silent throughout and just hold her hand. We are comfortable with the quiet, just making an occasional comment. Neither of us has slept for hours but I find I'm not tired, just content.